State v. Evans

Appellant Evans was charged with murdering Alonzo Counts by stabbing him to death on June 20, 1974. 1 Testimony adduced at the trial before a jury established a pattern of angry and violent confrontations between Evans and Counts during the hours immediately preceding the homicide; the confrontations were broken by brief periods when the two men were out of contact with one another. There was evidence from which the jury could have concluded that Evans stabbed Counts without justification, excuse or legally adequate provocation. There was also evidence from which the jury could have concluded…